Elite play and good offense should be on display in Hilton this week as ISU plays host to UI

It’s the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series on the basketball court this week and that means a couple of things.

First, the intensity will be sky high Thursday (women’s game) and Friday (men’s game) in Hilton Coliseum. Second, the nets will likely be sizzling if early season returns are any indicator.

The Cyclone men’s team is scoring 91.7 points per game (3rd-best nationally). The Iowa men are scoring 89.5 points per game (9th-best). The Hawkeye women’s squad is 19th-best in the nation with 84.1 points per game and the Iowa State women are 24th nationally (82.1 ppg).

Both ISU coaches noted their upcoming defensive challenges.

“The thing they are great at is transition offense,” Hoiberg said. “They really get out and run.”

“They have a lot of people they can put on the court who can score at a high level,” Fennelly said of an UI club with five double figure scorers. “That’s rare, very rare, in our (women’s) game.”

The Cyclones, of course, counter with their own offensive prowess.

Hoiberg has 5 players scoring in double figures and a sixth at 9.9 per game. Fennelly has three double figure scorers on his roster, but he also has a wildcard.

“We have an All-American on our team,” Fennelly said of Hallie Christofferson (25.0 ppg). “Lots of teams say they have an All-American because they’re promoting them. We have one and that’s not up for debate.”

Beyond the scoring averages, the four teams have 2 other pretty significant numbers worthy of praise.